#sb2c helldiver

This image captures a moment during World War II when a U.S. Navy Curtiss SB2C Helldiver dive bomber returns to its aircraft carrier after a mission against Japanese shipping. The aircraft is likely from Bombing Squadron 11 (VB-11) and is flying over the USS Hornet (CV-12). 

The photo was taken from another aircraft in the formation, capturing the Helldiver banking to land on the carrier's deck. 

A US Navy Curtiss SB2C-1 Helldiver dive bomber (tail number 1758) in flight near Buffalo. 1941

To commemorate the 100th Anniversary of Naval Aviation, an F/A-18C Hornet takes on the colors of a WWII Helldiver unit and joins the world's only airworthy Helldiver in the skies above Central California.

HELLDIVER.

Bombardier en piqué Curtiss SB2C Helldiver – 1943-1945

“Lt(jg) Cliff Jordan and his gunner, ARM2c Stan Whitby, from VB-15, return from a mission in support of the invasion of Saipan with damage to the right elevator and stabilizer, 19 June 1944. They shot down a Japanese Kate torpedo bomber with their SB2C-3 Helldiver in the process!”

Photographed on board USS Essex (CV-9).

Curtiss SB2C Helldiver, likely an SB2C-4E or SBF-4E variant, in the Western Pacific in 1945. 

The Helldiver was a two-seat dive bomber used by the U.S. Navy during World War II. 

It was the last dive bomber operated by the Navy and the last significant combat aircraft produced by Curtiss-Wright. 

The aircraft in the image features slotted wing flaps, which doubled as dive brakes.